Whitetail Trail Cam's - Build yourself an Arsenal!
| P.O. Box 372 240 West Main St. Ipava, IL 61441 Phone: 309-224-2853 info@backwoodswhitetails.com |
| Step 1 - "Map Your Property/Hunt Area" By viewing your property or hunt area as a box. One already knows that the only actual hunting you will be able to do is going to be "Inside the Box". As well we know that there are only going to be so many ways for the whitetail to travel in and out of the box. As well, learning how the deer travel inside the box will be key knowledge for choosing stand placements and knowing which stand to choose for hunting different wind directions. Print out an aerial for each of the different properties/ hunt area's for which you are hunting. Scout each property so as to locate & mark each individual deer trail leading into and out of the property (the box). Scout your food plots and/or field edges to locate & mark each individual deer trail leading into the open food sources. Add up each individual trail to find out how many cameras you will need. Now that you have added up all of the different entrance and exit trails. I'm sure you just realized that your "game camera scouting efforts" are slightly underpowered. To get a real knowledge of what is going on with the deer in that are. One has to understand that using just a couple of cameras is not going to cut it. I know for most hunters that budgeting a boat load of trail cameras into your scouting game doesn't seem doable. But if you are as serious about harvesting a trophy buck as you say you are. Then you will get serious about electronically scouting your hunt area 24 - 7 and getting serious will mean placing an extra eye on every trail that the deer are using in the woods. Having the correct quantity of cameras in the woods means that you will have a quality hunting experience each and every season. BUDGET CAMS: Quality vs Quantity At Backwoods Whitetails (no we have not used them all) we have used more than our fair share of different types, brands & models of game scouting cameras. We have used everything from the low dollar Wildgame innovation cams to the top dollar Reconyx. Regardless of brand, type or model.... Any extra eye in the woods is better than no eyes at all! Now i will be the first to say that although we have had to throw away quite a few of our low dollar cams where as we still have ALL of our same Reconyx cams. I will also point out that it doesn't take a high dollar cam to gather the whitetail intelligence that one is after. By simply "taking the time to get to know each game camera" one will soon learn how to best utilize that brand & model to get the best results possible in the woods. Now some hunters that face/deal with the high risk of theft issue. Therefore budget cams are probably going to be more up you alley. That will mean finding the cheapest cameras possible and then finding the best ways to lock em down & hide them so as to keep the thieves from carrying them away. But regardless of your situation. A few tips to finding budget cams will be to constantly keep an eye out on Amazon, Ebay, intrenet specials and annual clearance sales at any of your local sporting goods stores/suppliers. I know we find constantly find great deals online at wwwrogerssportinggoods.com. Usually starting about mid December through mid February we can pick up some really cheap game cams on clearance sales at Tractor Supply Stores. Just remember to keep looking and never pass up on an opportunity to get a game cam for a cheap price. Whether ya need it or not......, one never knows when they will have a cam crap out. Otherwise share those discount discoveries with your hunting buddies as they might be in need of an extra cam or two. Converting A Non Working Trail Cam One thing hunters can do with their junk cams is to turn them into theft decoys and/or theft preventions decoys. By simply taking a piece of Black RG6 Coax cable and epoxying it to the side of the camera. One can turn the appearance of their once useless game cam into a useful decoy that appears as a satellite cam to trespassers/thieves. Sometimes just the simple glimpse of an antenna on a camera can trigger the thought of "shit i just got my picture sent to the owner" and will be enough to detour a thief. Otherwise if you or a friend is having an issue with someone consistently stealing cams. The simple placement of a junk camera in plain sight with another camera hidden near by will be enough to catch a camera thief. Funnel Cams Another great use for non working / dummy cams is for funneling whitetails past your tree stand. We all know that whitetails are not a stupid animal. Just watching em at times can leave some to believe that they have the ability to recognize & reason out things in their minds just like a human. We all have seen a whitetail freak out and take off running over something new being placed in their front yards and it doesn't matter what it is or what size. Now I do believe that "most" deer are simply spooked by a trail cam due to noises that are easily detectable to the deer. But i have personally seen and watched whitetails avoid a trail or a small area due to the presence of a game camera. I have personally watched deer stand at distances outside of a cameras detection zone to see if it were still there and then take an alternate route to their destination. So the moral to this story is even though it is a non working camera. It can be used to place on trails and/or field edges where you want the deer to avoid. Thus, getting them to choose a trail you want them to use. It isn't always 100%...but this technique works. |
Just How Many Cameras Do I Need?
At Backwoods Whitetails Outfitters we have several farms that need
to be monitored each season. How do we go about deciding on just
how many cameras will we need you ask? Whether you are a
dedicated whitetail guide or the individual hunter. Each and every trail
camera situation is going to be different.
At Backwoods Whitetails Outfitters we have several farms that need
to be monitored each season. How do we go about deciding on just
how many cameras will we need you ask? Whether you are a
dedicated whitetail guide or the individual hunter. Each and every trail
camera situation is going to be different.
Next Step in Scouting for Success is "Choosing the Right Trail Camera"